Original subtitles

"Bucking the wind" was Daddy's phrase

for what people had to do together in life.

At times, life is gonna be stormy, sweetheart.

And when those winds blow,

you're gonna have to plant your little feet,

lean into it, and buck the wind.

"Bucking the wind" was also Daddy's excuse

on a cold winter night for a quick trip to the corner store

to buy another bottle of bourbon.

I came of age when he agreed to take me along.

- How about some ice cream?

- In the snow?

- That's the best time.

- I'll get it.

- Evening, Ray.

What can I do for you?

- Carton of vanilla and a fifth of Wild Turkey.

Listen, Vern, I've been meaning to talk to you.

My partner, Edward Atkins, and I

are looking for just the right guy

to go into the business investment of a lifetime,

a man of vision, someone who's not afraid

to step out of the mold, take a risk.

Vern, a man such as yourself.

Vern looked like anything but a man of vision.

- What is it this time, Ray?

- NapRenew.

It's a miraculous formula.

A revolutionary new process

which actually enables us to restore the nap

on old and worn serge suits.

I'm telling you, there's a fortune to be made here, Vern.

Cleaning fluids are the investment of the future.

- I'll have to think about it.

- You do that.

Don't take too long.

An opportunity like this comes along once in a blue moon.

Come on, Sonya.

Let's get home before the ice cream melts.

- Hey, Ray, wait up.

That will be 8.50.

- Put it on my tab, Vern.

♪ Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above ♪

♪ Don't fence me in

♪ Let me ride through the wide open country ♪

Years later, this memory would always be

the memory that haunted my imagination,

hand-in-hand, singing in the deserted snowy streets,

me with the father who had the audacity to buy ice cream

on the coldest night of the year.

- Sonya?

Sonya.

Sonya Weiler?

You get out of bed this instant.

Come on, sweetheart, rise and shine.

The early bird catches the worm.

Sonya?

We don't want to be late for Edgemont.

Sonya, get up.

Get up, I want to see you up.

I'm up.

- That's a girl.

Good morning, sweetie. - Morning, Dad.

Greta, make sure Sonya gets out of bed.

- Okay.

Roxie's packing.

She's leaving us the hair dryer.

- She's packing?

What'd she say?

- Not much.

She looked kinda mad.

Sonya, I was trying to keep track.

Is Roxie number 11 or number 12?

See ya, Ray.

- Knock it off, Greta.

Roxie, wait a minute.

Where are you going? - I'm leaving.

- Why? - You won't pay me my money.

- I told you, I'll have the cash

by the end of the week, Rox.

- You've been saying that for months.

Bye, girls!

- Well, you know, usually an employee

gives the employer a notice!

Goddamn son of a bitch!

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

All right, girls, let's go.

- I told you I had a bad feeling about Roxie, Daddy.

Sonya, you have a bad feeling about all of them.

- Roxie was number 12, wasn't she?

- Now, don't you start.

Well, sweetheart, you're the family historian.

If you say 12, then 12 it must be.

- It was 12.

- Dad, about Edgemont...

- Look, we've discussed this enough.

A promise is a promise.

Ray Weiler never welches on a promise.

- They're not gonna take me for just one year, anyway.

- Miss Tate.

It's such a pleasure to finally meet you.

My daughter Sonya.

- Hello.

- I've heard so much about you over the years.

Oh, really?

From whom?

- My wife was an Edgemont girl.

Class of '34.

Hardly a day went by without her discussing the school

and the refining influence that you had on her life.

What is your wife's name, Mr.--

Weiler, Valery Weiler.

I mean, Beecham, when she was here.

- Beecham?

1934.

Well, of course I remember Valery.

She was in one of my first classes here.

Do ask her to come see me.

I like to see what becomes of our girls.

- Valery died eight years ago.

- I'm terribly sorry, Sonya.

- Thank you.

- I promised Valery that I would send her

two daughters to Edgemont.

- Mr. Weiler, are you raising two young girls

all on your own?

Oh, that is most admirable.

- Sonya's records.

All As.

Mostly all As.

I know Valery would feel that even a year

under your influence would be invaluable.

- Mr. Weiler, why did you wait so long to apply?

Our semester has begun.

Enrollment is full.

- Miss Tate, you can't imagine the pain it causes me

to be sitting here before you like this, at this late date.

But circumstances have not permitted me to do so sooner.

What can I say,

except that I know that you,

with your culture and refinement,

would appreciate the burden, a burden of love, of course,

but nonetheless a burden,

of trying to raise two motherless children,

to try to keep a little home together for them

and inculcate in them the values

that you so steadfastly uphold here at Edgemont.

Miss Tate, if you knew what it meant

to a widower like myself

to be able to entrust his child to your care...

Well, Miss Tate,

I am beyond words.

- Well, I appreciate your sentiment, Mr. Weiler.

And it's most unusual,

but I am willing to make an exception.

Welcome to Edgemont, Miss Weiler.

- Thank you.

- Good.

Then that's settled.

Now since you're here, Sonya,

you'll start school with the other girls.

Mr. Weiler, you'll need to leave a deposit

for the tuition with our cashier.

- I seem to have forgotten my checkbook.

I'll have my assistant take care of it

first thing this afternoon.

Fine.

Valery Weiler sits at the kitchen table

dealing herself a hand of solitaire.

That's mostly what my mother did.

She smoked Luckys and played cards

and read paperback mysteries, one after the other.

- I've got some big news for my gals tonight.

- Hey, Ray.

Everything lit up

when my father came through the door at night.

- Honey, Weiler and Atkins are about to patent

an invention that's gonna revolutionize the mining industry.

Where's Sonya?

- Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Carmen Miranda!

Hello, amigo.

♪ I'm Chiquita banana and I've come to say ♪

♪ Bananas have to ripen in a certain way ♪

♪ When they're flecked with brown ♪

- Valery, you didn't tell me the Brazilian Bombshell

was playing Portland.

- Sorry, Ray, I was sworn to secrecy.

- Daddy, what's under there?

- Baby, you are looking at Daddy's first million.

Now, if you ladies would have a seat.

He brought a sense of excitement

from the outside world into the tiny basement apartment.

- Voila!

Ladies, I present to you the Finders Keepers.

- What does it do?

- This revolutionary device is so simple to use,

even a child can strike it rich.

Finally, the little guy will have a chance

up against the fat cat mining companies.

Valery, the market for these babies

is going to be so big and so profitable

that we're just a technicality away from your dream house.

My mother's one big wish in life was modest.

She wanted out of our one-room apartment.

She wanted a home of her own, any home would do.

- Now, who in the audience would like to participate?

Hide the coin.

Anywhere you want.

- Close your eyes.

We are ready.

Try going left.

No hints from the audience.

Greta, I almost forgot about you.

- Mommy, I'm hungry.

- I know.

The Finders Keepers

went to the same mysterious place

where all my father's other revolutionary devices ended up.

My mother returned to her cigarettes and solitaire,

and her dream house remained just a technicality away.

- Sonya, dinner!

- How do you spell electricity?

- How do you think you spell it?

- E-L-E-C-T R-I-C-I-T-Y.

- Very good.

That's very good.

- So you picked Benjamin Franklin?

Mm-hm.

What are you working on?

- American heroes, my report for school.

- I got one for you.

Charles A. Steen.

- She already picked.

- The Uranium King.

He's the kinda man that makes this country great.

The man strikes out on his own,

stakes everything he's got on a piece of land

in the middle of nowhere.

He works that mine with his bare hands

and comes out with $50 million.

- Dad, she already picked Benjamin Franklin.

- A few years ago, he didn't know where his next

Geiger counter was coming from.

That is what is beautiful about America.

That sort of opportunity, I'm not home.

That kind of spirit, that's what makes this country great,

to have a dream, pursuit it,

no matter what the odds are, no matter--

- Hello? - Who's against you.

- Oh, Mr. Garrity.

No, he's not home right now.

Could I get him to call you back?

The rent is in the mail.

It's on the way.

Okay.

Bye-bye.

- That guy has a hell of a nerve,

disturbing a family at dinnertime.

Now, where was I?

- He didn't know where his next

Geiger counter was coming from.

- Right.

Everybody on the Colorado Plateau called him crazy.

Now his dalmatian is eating T-bone steaks,

and he's flying in his own plane up to Salt Lake City,

take rhumba lessons.

Where is he now?

He's probably off in Hollywood,

doing the rhumba with Sandra Dee.

How do you spell rhumba?

R-H-U-M-B-A.

- "Has anyone supposed it lucky to be born?

"I hasten to inform him or her,

"it's just as lucky to die, and I know it.

"I pass death with the dying,

"and birth with the new-washed babe,

"and am not contained between my hat and my boots

"and peruse manifold objects, no two alike."

- How'd you get just a one-year sentence at Retchmont?

"And their adjuncts all good.

"I am not on earth nor adjunct of an earth."

- Just lucky, I guess.

- "I am the mate and companion of people,

"all just as immortal and fathomless as myself.

"And they do not know how immortal, but I know.

"Every kind for itself and its own,

"for me mine male and female,

"for me all that have been boys--

- Sometimes, he gets so caught up in what he's reading,

and he forgets we're here.

Lot of girls ditched while he was reading

"Julius Caesar" last year.

"And the old maid,

"for me mothers and the mothers of mothers,

"for me lips that have smiled, eyes that have shed tears,

"for me children and the begetters of children."

- And he never ever sits down, not even to grade papers.

- Miss Jenkins.

I know that your mouth is as big as that bag that you carry,

but I would appreciate it if you kept them

both closed in my classroom.

- I was just telling Sonya about how we read

"Julius Caesar" last year.

- Miss Weiler, if you think you have something

more important to say than Walt Whitman,

why don't you share it with the rest of the class?

No?

Good, okay.

"I see through the broadcloth and gingham whether or no

"and am around, tenacious, acquisitive--

- Stick of gum. - "Tireless, and can never

"be shaken away."

Bobby Darin.

Yeah, I'll take Bobby Darin.

I can go for that.

Oh, you gotta be kidding.

Roy Orbison?

How can you say that?

He's just so gross-looking.

Well, it's not the way he looks.

I mean, you have to listen to his lyrics.

- Who cares about lyrics?

I'll take Frankie Avalon any day.

- Frankie Avalon? - Jeez, what is it

with you two?

- He's sexy.

- Margaret thinks Frankie Avalon is sexy.

- I didn't mean he was sexy-- - They're both

a couple of greaseballs.

And to think of all the money they're raking in.

- I'd take some of that money.

Besides, what kind of talk is that anyway

from two Edgemont girls?

"Sexy"?

What the hell are they teaching you at that school?

- Not to swear.

Hi.

- Hi.

I was just talking to your dad.

He says you guys are gonna buy some land up in the Rockies.

He says we can go skiing.

Sounds really great.

- Yeah.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on, it's a big one.

- Sonya, come on.

- See these flecks of metal, girls?

These little flecks are going to make us all rich someday.

Daddy and Eddie are staking four claims up here.

In fact, we named them after you girls.

Sonya 1, Sonya 2, and Greta 1 and Greta 2.

How original.

- Did you say something, Sonya?

All right, now before we go any further,

let's go over the three rules

by which we live in the mountains.

Number one--

- Dad, we've gone over this a hundred times.

We know them by heart.

And I already filled Margaret in, didn't I, Margaret?

- Yeah.

The three rules by which we-- - Good.

You can't be too careful.

Besides, Sonya, someday these claims

will belong to you and Greta.

And you will need to come up here on your own

to check on the operation.

- Oh, that's right, I forgot.

- Number one.

- Always carry matches.

- Number two.

Speak up, girl, I can't hear you.

Always look for Forest Service markers.

- I wasn't talking to you.

- I was helping Sonya.

- I don't need your help.

- Don't snap at your sister like that.

Come back here. Sonya.

There's one more rule to go.

Don't walk away from me!

Now what is the third rule

of the forest? - Let go of me.

- What is the third rule-- - Let go of me!

- Of the forest?

Always follow rivers downstream!

God!

Just...

- Anybody down there?!

- Jarvis!

Over here!

You okay?

- You girls stay there while Daddy and Uncle Eddie

speak with Mr. Jarvis!

- Hello, Ray.

How are you, Jarvis?

Follow me.

It's okay, Sonya.

Okay?

- You know, Ray, that was not too cool,

making a move like that on Jarvis.

- Eddie.

Don't worry about it.

I've got it covered.

- "In my hungry fatigue and shopping for images,

"I went into the neon fruit supermarket

"dreaming of your enumerations.

"What peaches and penumbras.

"Whole families shopping at night.

"Aisles full of husbands.

"Wives in the avocados, babes in the tomatoes.

"And you, Garcia Lorca,

"what were you doing down by your watermelons?"

Get this back at the end of the day, Miss Weiler.

"I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber,

"poking among the meats in the refrigerator

"and eyeing the grocery boys."

Valery Weiler was addicted to the movies.

She'd named me after Sonja Henie,

and my sister Greta for Garbo in "Camille."

No matter what the movie was, my mother always cried.

- No, the best part is when Bette Davis is on the stairs

and she looks down at everybody at the party and she says,

"Fasten your seat belts--

"You're in for a bumpy night!"

Yeah.

Movies were her only social life

outside our small apartment.

Every Wednesday night, we took the bus

to the magnificent Fox Theater

with its gilded, golden globes.

Wednesday's were raffle night,

and she always wore her lucky scarf.

Oh, Matt, you were right.

We have missed six wonderful, exciting years.

I've been so blind.

Why didn't you make me see?

- Why didn't I make you see?

I...

- Put your hankies away, ladies,

'cause tonight is the night of the Wednesday night raffle.

And the winning number is 925.

Miss Valery Weiler!

My mother's face was flushed.

She'd always dreamed about winning,

but then never expected it to happen.

Now that all those eyes were on her,

she didn't know what to do.

- Oh!

As we made our way to the stage together

to claim her prize,

I wondered if this would be her thrill of a lifetime.

- Ah, and a lovely mother-to-be too.

Congratulations, Mrs. Weiler.

- Thank you.

My mother smiled for a week.

I'd never seen her so happy.

Even if the dishes were cheap and an ugly shade of pink,

at least they were hers.

- What kind of color is that, anyway?

You couldn't really call it pink.

It looks more like flesh.

Who would want to eat off flesh?

- Don't you talk about my dishes that way.

Valery remembered her other dishes,

the ones my father had hocked years ago

to finance some imaginary goldmine.

- Hell, honey, you don't need that crap.

As soon as the checks clear on this Anaconda deal,

I'll get you the finest set of china money can buy.

She told herself it doesn't matter.

Someday, Ray is sure to strike it rich.

She swallows her disappointment.

She knows times were hard for everyone.

- Well, it's not exactly Fitzgerald, not yet, anyway.

Do you have any more of these stories?

- No.

Well, yes.

Just a couple.

- Miss Weiler, I think you may have the makings of a writer.

- No, they're just little stories that I...

- I'll expect you to keep up with the reading.

That is essential.

But you can turn in your stories

instead of some of the assignments.

- Thank you.

- Well, don't thank me until you've read my notes.

For instance, "gilded, golden globes,"

I think you can do better than that.

You have to be careful with alliteration.

Keep it personal.

Use your own voice.

Sonya's a lovely child.

I've noticed.

Very responsible and she's very grown-up.

- Mm-hm. - Very good qualities.

Very willing to help out.

- Mm-hm. - Mm.

She takes good care of her little sister.

- Does she? - Really?

Thank you, dear.

- Grace and balance, Sonya, grace and balance.

Care for a mint?

Mr. Weiler, I think it's commendable

that you're taking care of those two girls all on your own.

I can't imagine Margaret's father ever doing that.

- Can't imagine Margaret's mother ever doing it either.

- He's missing out on life's greatest joy, I can say that.

My business may suffer a bit at times,

but all I need to do is look over here at my little girl

to know that it's worth every sacrifice.

Mrs. Rucklehaus?

- Oh, no, no, please, call me Ginny, Mr. Weiler.

- That's Ray, Ginny.

Ladies?

- No, thank you.

Oh, what business did you say you're in, Ray?

- Mining, mostly.

But I do like to keep my hands in lots of enterprises.

- Isn't that enterprising of you?

Do you have your hands in anything

really interesting right now?

- Mm.

Well, you must keep this under your hats, ladies,

but, yes, my partner and I are on to one of the biggest

veins this side of the Rockies.

- My lips are zipped.

But maybe you should talk to my husband, Ray.

He's vice president of First Federal.

He's always, always, always looking for a good investment.

- I'll remember that.

- In fact, Sonya, why don't you come over

to the house this weekend?

Gigi's...

Gigi?

Gigi's having a little get-together for her girl friends.

- I'd love to, thank you,

but I must take my little sister to dance class.

- Oh, don't worry about that, Sonya.

I'll drop you off at the party myself

and I'll take care of Greta.

♪ Doo

♪ Doo

♪ Doo

♪ Doo

♪ Well, I went to a dance the other night ♪

♪ Everybody went stag

♪ I said over and over and over again ♪

♪ This dance is gonna be a drag ♪

- I mean, I don't know why they do it.

I mean, take Tony Curtis, you know what his real name is?

Bernard Schwartz.

From Brooklyn.

- I just heard this story about this girl,

she teases her hair out to here,

and one night, when she's sleeping,

a little rat crawls inside of her hair and dies.

What's even worse about it is, one time,

when she's out with her boyfriend,

the rat tail is going down her face

when he goes to kiss her.

Isn't that yucky?

♪ I said, won't you come over and talk to me ♪

♪ And be my girl

♪ It's June in January

- Ray, good to see you.

Come on in, meet Bud.

Sonya's in the back with the other girls.

Bud.

Bud, honey, this is Ray Weiler, Sonya's father, remember?

I told you about him.

Yeah, from the mother-daughter tea.

- Mm-hm. - How do you do, Bud?

- How are you? - Pleasure.

- Listen, can I get you a drink?

- Oh. No.

No. Thank you.

That's kind of you to offer, but it's a bit early for me.

- Oh, please, Ray, don't run off.

Please.

Bud's really quite the bartender.

Come on, mix Ray a drink.

Well, if you insist.

Scotch on the rocks, Bud.

- All right. - But only a short one.

You got it.

- Dad?

Greta.

- Having fun, honey?

- Go on and sit down.

I think I'll go get us something to nibble on.

Here you go, Ray.

Thank you.

It's quite a home you have here, Bud.

Thank you.

- Wonderful grain in the wood.

Cedar and hemlock, if I'm not mistaken.

I like to think I know my woods.

- Well, you obviously do.

Did you see the corner over here, Ray?

It's glass to glass, mitered.

The seam virtually disappears.

Mm-hm.

- Cheers.

♪ In the middle of a kiss

- My wife loved this song.

♪ It dawned on me

♪ In the middle of a kiss

- We used to dance to this music.

♪ I knew you were mine

♪ In the middle of a sweet embrace ♪

So Ginny tells me you're in the mining business.

- Mining, yes.

Mostly mining.

- She mentioned something about a deal here in the Cascades?

- I'm so sorry.

- Bud, I don't have to tell you how iffy these things are,

but, frankly, a deal this good

comes along once in a blue moon.

♪ Of a sigh

As I was telling your lovely wife,

my partner and I have staked four claims in the mountains,

named them after Sonya and her sister.

Every summer, my mother, Greta,

and I took the boat to Canada

to stay with my grandmother, Nona.

Sonya, can I tell Mom your joke?

Yeah.

- Greta, why did the moron throw the clock out the window?

Wrong!

Because he wanted to see time fly.

Oh!

You understand your daddy, don't you?

- Yeah.

Each year, our father saw us off at the dock,

but he never came along.

The journey lasted a night and day.

There, in that world of open sky and saltwater tides,

my mother was another person.

Gone were the paperbacks and decks of cards.

Gone were my father's latest schemes and inventions.

She'd escaped to that familiar landscape

where she was born and where she felt most alive.

Straight ahead. Push.

Our last summer there,

the summer that I was nine, I learned to ride a bicycle.

Greta learned to toddle and say, "Mommy" and "up."

Every night, I stayed out playing long after dark.

And I wished on Nona's favorite star

that the summer would never end.

That summer, my mother spent a lot of time

with Everett MacGregor, her old high school sweetheart.

She seemed happier with him than she ever was with Ray.

Then it suddenly occurred to me.

If he had been my father, it would have changed everything.

Yeah, I can't do the fancy stuff.

Mm.

Mm.

Towards the end of that summer,

my mother learned that she had cancer

after an examination by the doctor in town.

Strange days followed.

My confusion was greater than anyone's

because the others knew.

Maybe if they'd told me,

maybe I could've done something to help her.

- No, I heard it from a specialist in town.

Good.

Well, they found something on the right side as well.

- I don't know. - Mama.

- Yeah.

Mommy.

- Well, I just thought it was, picking the girls up...

Ray, I'm scared.

- But you just got here!

I haven't shown you the cave by the lake!

- I know, honey.

Maybe next year.

Right now, your mother and I must get to Portland.

I wanna show you the cave!

Not now, Sonya!

See you soon.

- Okay.

- Bye, honey. - Bye.

Why aren't they taking me with them?

It's okay.

It was three months before I left Canada

for the new dream house.

- This it, Daddy?

So pretty.

I didn't know my mother when I finally saw her.

I thought that there was some mistake.

Who was that other woman in the green chenille robe?

No matter how hard I looked,

I couldn't find the woman

that left me that summer in Canada.

Over in the double bed,

frozen in a mute tableau,

my father is holding his wife.

In the crib against the wall,

baby Greta sleeps on through the death of her mother

whom she will not remember.

I kept staring at my mother's face.

It was pale and white and it didn't look like her.

I was too young to understand

that her eyes were closed forever

and I would never hear her voice again.

♪ I don't know, baby

♪ Maybe it's all in my mind

- Sure this is the one?

- This is the address on the roster.

Margaret.

- Don't have a cow.

Would you look at all those plants?

Must have a woman in the house.

- He doesn't wear a wedding band to school.

- He's living with someone, living in sin.

Ooh.

- What about that tricycle?

- He's got an illegitimate son, a bastard child.

Mr. Webster.

- Mr. Webster. - Mm-mm-mm-mm.

Well, I guess still waters run deep.

Sonya?

Sonya, what are you doing?

- Shh. - Sonya.

Shh.

- What are you doing? - Shh.

Ha-ha!

- Jesus.

Sonya.

Sonya, I can't believe you did that.

He almost got you!

Oh, my god!

- I was this close.

This close.

He looked so different.

Yeah.

♪ Oh, my darling

♪ This, I swear is true

- Hello, anybody home?

Hello, girls.

Where's your papa?

- He's away on a big tour.

We don't know when he'll be back.

How come is it every time I call or come by,

your papa's away on some big trip?

Tell me this.

- Ray Weiler is a very busy man

who needs to be away on business quite frequently.

- Hey, don't be smart with me, sweetie.

Your papa owes me six months' rent.

You know, if he can't return my calls,

you and your sister are gonna end up on the street.

- Afternoon, girls.

Mr. Garrity, to what do we owe this honor?

- What do you think?

I'm here for the rent.

You know, the money that you owe me

in the beginning of every month

that you haven't paid in six months?

- Here, that should settle what I owe you.

And here's for the next two months,

just in case I'm forced to travel again.

I'm busy.

I don't want you bothering my girls.

- Pay the rent, I don't bother the girls.

- Oh, boy, oh, boy.

Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy.

Here it is!

Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy.

Honey, now do you believe all the things

I've been telling you all these years?

Our ship has come in!

Yippee!

Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy.

- President Franklin.

- The old Weilers stuck together and we made it.

♪ See them tumbling down

♪ Pledging their love to the ground ♪

♪ La

♪ Lonely, but free

♪ I'll be found

♪ Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds ♪

- You sing up, my little cowgirls.

- I like it when your ships come in, Daddy.

Mm.

- Why are we doing here?

- Daddy is so sorry he has to take his girls

on this little detour.

But he has some important business

to discuss with Uncle Eddie.

- You mean a beer with Eddie.

♪ Would it matter at all

♪ If I should go away

♪ Would it matter at all

♪ If I should leave

♪ Would you worry about me

After Valery's death,

my father fell into a profound despair

and lost all pretense of keeping up with the rent

on the new dream house.

We moved from place to place,

finally landing at a transient hotel downtown.

I tried to drive all thoughts of my mother underground.

I filled the empty weekends

taking snapshots of Greta with the old box camera.

She didn't like being ordered around.

- Greta.

But she couldn't protest--

- Greta! - Because I was all she had.

This is a snapshot.

A moment in time.

No one looking at it could know

that Greta had been deaf for three months.

She had also stopped talking.

Of course, Daddy and I noticed,

but we refused to discuss it.

We didn't take Greta to a doctor

because neither of us wanted to hear

that something else was wrong with someone we loved.

We didn't wanna hear

that "your little girl was deaf and dumb."

Once or twice, we attempted to test her

by sneaking up from back of her and yelling.

Fire!

But she never moved or turned around.

- Greta, can you hear me, sweetheart?

Or even changed expression.

She didn't respond in any way.

I knew Greta's deafness was somehow my fault

and it put me in a chronic state of panic.

I was responsible for her,

but I couldn't even take care of myself.

- Greta.

- Sonya!

Where are your brains?!

Playing so close to the edge with your sister!

Can't close my eyes for a minute.

One day, after several months had passed,

the deafness disappeared just as mysteriously as it began.

- I need to go to the bathroom.

Daddy and I never talked about it,

but a great weight seemed to lift from his shoulders.

I was so relieved.

I stopped making Greta pose for me,

and I promised myself she'd never feel that lonely again.

You see mine in there?

- Well, it's nice to see some of you ladies

actually listen to me when I speak in class.

Where's yours?

A C?

Oh, no.

- You wanna talk about your papers,

we can talk about them tomorrow.

My mom's gonna kill me.

- You tell me to write about what I know

and then you tear it apart.

- Sonya, you only saw the criticism.

You didn't see the meaning of the criticism.

- That's all there is to see.

There's red marks everywhere.

- Sonya, your story was beautiful.

I noticed you haven't signed up for the college exams.

You do plan on going, don't you?

To college, I mean.

- No, Mr. Webster, actually, I don't.

You see, things are just a little complicated at home.

- Well, I gathered that.

But you can't let that stop you.

- You don't know my father.

- You know, in a way, I do.

- I have to get to class.

- Hello?

No, he's not home.

No, I don't know where he is.

No, I don't know when he'll be back.

Yeah, I'll give him the message.

Bye.

Daddy!

Daddy!

That was Mr. Jarvis again!

- What, darling?!

He said that if you want him

to stay involved in the deal,

you better stop avoiding his calls!

- Who's avoiding his calls?

Would you turn that goddamn noise off?

I want an explanation for this.

I want an explanation of what this cheap crap

is doing in your room.

Look at me, numbskull!

Where the hell are your brains?!

Did you hear what I said?!

- It's just a book.

- Don't play dumb with me.

I know trash when I see it.

I have tried to bring you up

to teach you culture and refinement.

And you...

Goddamn it!

I have forbidden you to read this trash!

I have tried to bring you up

to appreciate the finer things of life,

but all you do is read cheap crap!

Excuse me.

- I'm gonna fix you one of my pick-me-up specials, Dad.

- No, sweetheart, I just need a few moments of quiet,

and this cup of coffee.

- Morning. - Good morning.

- So I'll be back around four.

- Okay. - Hold your horses.

Where do you think you're going?

You gotta take Greta to her dance recital.

- Can't you take her just this once, Dad?

- I've gotta meet Eddie.

I have to go meet Margaret.

I told her I would.

- Well, you'll just have to call up Margaret

and tell her you'll be there when you get there.

- All right, go get dressed, Greta, and hurry up.

Sweetheart, let me see how you look.

Turn around.

Oh, you're gonna do great.

- There's your friend. - Shawna!

Hi!

Sure look cute in your tutu.

Thanks.

I gotta go backstage and get changed.

- Okay, I'll go get a seat.

- No.

You better go or you'll be late for your test.

- I love you, Greta.

You're gonna do just great.

- Yeah.

- Good luck.

- Good luck. - Okay, go.

- Does everybody have a sharpened number two pencil?

Let me see it.

All right, everything's gonna be fine.

Everything will be fine.

Don't worry, she'll be all right.

Does anyone know this girl?

No, not me.

Margaret.

- Do you know this girl?

- Yes.

- Oh, god.

Did I faint again?

- Are you okay?

- I thought you'd never get here.

Remember Artie?

The guy from the Calverton deal?

Artie Skaggs.

Big talk, no underwear.

- He stopped in the Dover last night and we started talking.

So I started telling him about Greta and Sonya,

not the girls, the claims.

Eddie, how many times do I have to tell you

not to talk about business?

Jesus.

Anyway, he starts telling me

about couple of guys he knows

that got this great deal around the same parts.

So what?

It's a big mountain.

- That's right, Ray, it's a big mountain.

So I ask him who these guys got this deal from.

It's Miller, Ray.

He sold our land to somebody else.

What does Skaggs know?

Besides, Miller promised he wouldn't do anything

without letting me know first.

That was a while ago.

I hope you're right.

- Jarvis.

Just the man I wanted to see.

I was just telling Eddie--

- Cut the crap, Weiler.

You've been steering clear of me for weeks,

and I don't like it.

We've been up in the mountains

getting things set up.

- What things?

- You ever started up a mining operation, Jarvis?

There's equipment to lease.

We got a great deal on a backhoe, by the way.

And there's men to hire.

These things take time.

And money, Jarvis.

- I know, Ray.

It's my money.

Well, we've all got a lot tied up here.

- "We"?

So far, the only one I see

putting up any cash is yours truly,

and it's starting to make me a little nervous, Ray.

- What's the matter, Jarvis?

I thought you were a high roller.

You're not the only one with something on the line here.

- Oh? Who else?

- Well, Bud Rucklehaus for one.

- Oh, Bud Rucklehaus?

Should I be impressed, Ray?

Who the hell is Bud Rucklehaus?

- He's vice president of First Federal.

Our kids go to school together.

- You better not be bullshitting me, Ray.

Oh, and the next time I'm looking for you, be here.

Take it easy, eh?

- Shut up.

Shut up.

Mm.

I'm gonna kill you.

- Ooh, someone's got a boyfriend.

Sonya, this is for you.

University of California?

Well, aren't you gonna open it?

Come on.

- I can't believe it!

I'm going away to college!

- What? - I'm going away to college.

They accepted me.

- You're going away?

Congratulations.

♪ Hawaiian Eye

- Don't you dare say anything until I figure out

how I'm gonna tell him, okay?

What do you think I am?

Starring Anthony Eisley.

- Hello, girls.

- Hi, Dad.

- Hi, Dad. - And Connie Stevens.

- Don't I deserve a little more enthusiasm than that?

Daddy has had a rough day.

♪ Hawaiian Eye

Has anyone started dinner?

- Sonya's going away to college.

This is Tom Lopaka, Mrs. Wells.

- How do you do? - How do you do, Mrs. Wells?

Don't try and worry.

We left you a guest bed.

Anxious to meet your husband for sometime.

That's very nice of you.

I'm sure he'll be delighted.

Come on, you two.

What is she talking about?

- I got accepted to the University

of California at Berkeley.

- What the hell are you thinking about?

College?

- Why not?

- There are a thousand reasons.

Name one.

- Oh, Jesus Christ.

Honey.

You don't know what you're talking about.

You're too young to know.

Your daddy knows about college.

Your daddy knows about professors.

I know, don't think I don't know.

I've been around.

Those pinko intellectuals will distort your values,

and do everything in their power to turn your head around

and ruin everything that I,

and all decent upstanding Americans

like your daddy, hold precious.

Well.

Precious darling, since you feel that strongly about it,

who is Daddy to try and stop you?

How could anyone's father be so selfish?

Sometimes, Daddy would turn to the housekeepers

for advice on how to raise us.

Work clothes.

- Take off the...

Hi, honey.

I didn't hear you come in.

Svedka and I are having a little chat.

So it snows a great deal in Finland?

Mm, yes.

Mm.

"My God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

Once, instead of calling a doctor

when I had the flu,

he came and sat on my bed with a Bible,

held in uncertain hands,

and he faked it so well that I recovered in no time.

"I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not."

Sometimes, he didn't have the answers,

and there was nowhere to turn.

- Daddy?

I need some money.

What for?

- Just something I need.

- "Something"?

What thing?

- Just something from the store.

- Money doesn't grow on trees, you know.

- Daddy, I need money for Kotex.

Never has a man less-equipped

for parenthood tried so hard.

I'll be a son of a bitch.

Guy was being straight with me.

Hey, this is private property.

- I know it's private property.

It's my private property.

I'm one of the partners in all this.

You're one of the Carver brothers?

I don't think so.

They're twins and I've met both of 'em.

You don't even remind me of 'em.

- Wait a minute.

There must be a misunderstanding.

I'm with Ray Weiler.

You know, Unified Minerals?

- There's a misunderstanding all right,

but it's on your end, not mine.

This property is owned and being mined

by the Carver brothers of Seattle.

I think I remember some talk

that another company was undercut on this deal.

Could have been Unified Minerals.

- You son of a bitch, Weiler.

Ray?

Anyone in there?

- Honey, there's someone at the door for Daddy.

You go and answer it

and say I am not here. - Weiler, are you in there?!

Tell them I'm in the mountains

and you don't know when I'll be back.

Ray?!

- Don't give me that look.

You know Daddy wouldn't ask you to do anything

unless it was absolutely necessary.

- See someone in there, Ray! - Come on.

- For Christ's sake, get off the goddamn couch.

Now!

Go answer the door.

Ray?!

Open up the damn door!

Don't make me bust the damn door down now, Ray!

Open it up!

- Hello?

Tell your daddy Mr. Jarvis is here.

- He's not home, he's in the mountains.

- That's funny, his partner told me he was here.

- Well, he's not, he's in the mountains.

- Don't play games with me, missy.

I know he's here.

- Mr. Jarvis, you don't understand.

Ray Weiler's a very busy man

who needs to be away on business.

Yeah, he's busy, stealing money from honest men.

Ray?!

Ray!

He's not here!

- What's the rush, Ray? - Daddy!

- Got a client to meet?!

Huh?!

We got business to attend to first.

You owe me, Weiler.

- Don't worry, you'll get your money back.

Your investment will come back, double, Jarvis.

- I'm sick of your lies.

- What are you talking about?

They're breaking ground Monday.

We just got stalled waiting on some equipment from--

- Shut up, Ray!

I've been up to the site!

I've been introduced to the Carver brothers

and I phoned Rucklehaus!

It's over, so don't insult me with more of your crap!

I want my money by Monday, or I swear to you, Ray...

I want my money, plus 20 %.

That 20 % is for aggravation, Ray.

You get it, you get it, goddamn it!

Got nice girls, Ray.

Oughta take better care of 'em.

- I had no intention.

That was wrong.

I was trying to protect your investment.

I was trying to do the right thing here.

That old geezer hadn't have sold out from under me,

everything would be all right. - Ray, Ray!

- Yeah? - I called my lawyer.

I'm pressing charges.

Oh, Bud, don't do that.

Think about your own daughter.

Bud, please, I'm appealing to you, Bud.

Bud, please, have some mercy.

Daddy, are you all right?

- All I needed was a few more days.

These sons of bitches don't know the first goddamn thing

about the mining business.

A little bit of trouble, and they panic.

- What are we gonna do now?

- It's the guys like Bud Rucklehaus that really kill me.

I lay the deal of a lifetime in their laps,

and look what I get,

while they sit in their fancy offices

and never even get their hands dirty.

These guys have no guts,

no vision.

Well, they can't pull this shit on Ray Weiler.

- I found a lawyer for your father.

- Your dad will be out any minute.

Desmond took care of the bail, so there won't be any delay.

- Mr. Webster put up the...

- Don't worry about that.

He'll get it back.

Sonya.

Sonya, you need all the help you can get.

Your father's charged with grand larceny and fraud.

This is serious business.

- So what's gonna happen now?

- Well, we got a court date in a couple of weeks.

Now, I'll need you and your sister in court every day.

- It's just gonna upset Greta to have to go to court.

- Yeah, look, Sonya,

Social Services isn't gonna look kindly on your situation.

- But she's my sister.

I can take care of her.

- Yeah, I know that,

but we have to do everything we can to convince them.

Let's go home, sweetheart.

Thank you, sir. - Sure.

I'll see you, Sonya.

All right.

- Bye.

My father is changing.

I can sense the shift,

the profound upheavals that are taking place in him.

He's on the road a lot of these nights,

gripping the wheel of the beat-up Ford,

driving aimlessly through deserted streets.

I've seen him from my bedroom window,

circling the block as if he were trying to decide

whether to stay with us or to just run away.

I lie awake, watching the clock

long after Greta's fallen asleep.

And while I wait for him, I write.

I imagine the thoughts that must be going through his mind

as he stares down the darkened highway.

He's watching his dreams unravel.

When my mother was alive, he'd be bristling with plans.

I imagine that, deep in his heart,

he thinks he's failed her,

and the thought of our future is always on his mind.

I know he must think about leaving

and letting us shift for ourselves.

But there seems to be something deep inside him

that just won't let him desert us.

- Here she comes.

- What are you doing here?

- Can't a father pick his daughter up

after school once in while?

Bang!

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Who are you, Dale Evans?

All right, sweetheart.

- Part of the surprise.

This is what they wear at the dude ranch.

What dude ranch?

- The one in Reno.

I'll go horseback riding, you'll go to college,

and Daddy won't have to go to jail.

Right, Dad?

- What's she talking about?

- Honey, I've given this a lot of thought.

There are a lot of opportunities opening up in Reno.

It's a place a guy like me can really make a mark.

- "Opportunities"?

I can't believe you're saying this.

You're running away?

Are you crazy?

- Sonya, can't you see that the whole thing

is stacked against me?

With guys like Rucklehaus, I don't stand a chance.

In a few months, he'll forget about it

and they won't even bother looking for me.

We can all make a fresh start.

- We don't need a fresh start.

- I can't go to jail, Sonya.

- Daddy, stop the car.

Stop the goddamn car, now!

We're not going with you!

- Of course you're going.

The Three Little Weilers stick together, you know that.

- Three Little Weilers, The Three Little Kittens,

Three Little Pigs!

Stop calling us that!

Stop the car, now!

Leave me alone!

God!

Stop the car!

- Sonya.

Sonya.

Where are you going?

Come off the road.

Come off the road.

Come back to the car.

- What about your promise?!

You promised my mother that I would graduate from Edgemont!

Now, doesn't that mean anything to you?!

- Of course it does.

But, sweetheart, a diploma is a mere formality.

You take a test in Reno, they send you some paperwork,

poof, you've graduated.

- "A mere formality."

A technicality.

What about Mr. Webster's bail money?!

Was that just a formality too?!

He was my friend!

He trusted me and now you're ruining that too!

- He'll have that investment back

by the end of the month, with interest!

You think I wasn't thinking about that?

- You don't think about anyone or anything

but yourself and your deals.

What about us?!

Don't you ever think about us?!

- What do you mean?

This has all been for you, and your sister,

to give you girls what I didn't give your mother.

- You conned my mother and maybe you can con Greta,

but I'm not listening to any more of your lies!

Look.

- You let me go!

- Look! - Let me go!

Let go of me!

- I stood by you girls,

and now I'm asking you to stick by me.

- Maybe we would have been better off without you!

- That's how you feel?

Fine.

When I think of the opportunities I passed up

because of you two,

maybe I should have left you to shift

for yourselves a long time ago.

- Is your father here?

No.

- Do you know where he is?

Ray Weiler is a very busy man

who needs to be away on business quite frequently.

- Honey, is your sister here?

- Sonya!

- What is it?

We have a warrant for the arrest

of Raymond Weiler.

- I already told them that he--

- Are you aware that he was supposed to appear

in court yesterday?

- No.

Yes.

- I'm Mrs. Cole from Social Services.

Miss Abigail Tate informed our department

that you have an unsupervised minor here.

I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to take your sister with me.

- No, I'm 18.

I can take care of her.

- Sonya, you don't have legal guardianship.

Please, don't make this any harder than it already is.

Help Greta get packed and dressed, okay?

- Sonya.

- I'm calling Mr. Drew.

It's okay.

It's okay, Greta.

- Lucky I was already packed.

- Yeah, that was real lucky.

Come on, Greta.

Come on.

- I don't wanna go, Sonya.

- Listen, everything's gonna be okay.

- No.

Sonya! - Greta, you've got to.

- Sonya!

- It's only temporary!

Now, come on!

- Sonya, stop!

- Come on!

- Stop it!

Stop!

Greta, please!

- Stop! - Here.

Let go of her, let go of her, Sonya.

Come on, Greta, I promise you're gonna see her soon.

Come on.

So here's how it goes:

You've got a captive audience here in Reno.

Lonely woman moves to town--

She's got six weeks to kill,

just waiting for her divorce to come through.

- All she's got is time and the ex-husband's money.

Maybe we help her catch

a little a case of uranium fever.

Bingo.

Instant investment, right?

So you guys interested?

Yeah, sure.

Piece of cake for us, right, Ray?

Right, Ray?

We're in.

- Your Honor?

Yeah.

- I'm Ray Weiler.

- Oh, yeah.

We had a date to meet in court, Mr. Weiler,

not in front of my home.

- Yes, sir, I know.

I know.

- And if you think you're gonna get more sympathy

by coming here than in my courtroom, you're very mistaken.

- I'm not asking anything for myself.

It's about my daughters.

They've been through enough.

- Isn't it a little late for all this fatherly concern?

Should have thought about that before you took off.

You abandoned your children, Mr. Weiler.

- I'm not much of a father,

and I've made more than my share of mistakes.

Sonya never got to be much of a kid,

and Greta never even knew her mother.

I didn't make it any easier on them.

The only thing they have right now is each other.

Please.

Don't take that away from them too because I screwed up.

- Congratulations to the Edgemont graduating class of 1962.

- Very nice to meet you. - Well, it was a pleasure

having her in the class.

Very nice to see you. - Thanks very much.

- Mr. Webster, I'm sorry about my father.

I never should have let you put up that money.

I'm gonna get a job in the summer

and I'm gonna pay you back every--

- Sonya, you don't have to apologize for your father.

That's between me and him.

He is one hell of a source for material, though, isn't he?

- Yeah.

I guess you could say that.

- You just keep writing your stories

and I'll keep reading them.

- Okay.

- Okay.

I believe you know where I live.

- Can I go find Sonya?

- Yes.

- So good to see you.

You came back.

- I wouldn't have missed your graduation

for all the tea in China.

Nothing could stop me.

You look so grown-up,

just like your mother wanted.

I wish she were here with me to see you.

- I wish she was too.

- I have something I want to give you.

For your stories.

You're looking at the best damn pen money can buy.

14 carats.

If you melted that pen down,

the weight of the metal alone

could pay for a year of college.

When he was young,

he pursued a dream of silver in Mexico.

Later, the lure was gold.

By the time Daddy had gotten outta jail,

the Space Age was upon us

and he'd moved onto an obsession with rare Earth metals.

By then, Greta and I were used to being on our own.

Mr. Webster helped set me up at State.

I waited tables at night

and I wrote my stories on the weekends.

I shared an apartment with my sister,

whose junior high was just a block away.

She was like a daughter to me.

One November, after many years had passed,

our father went into the mountains and he never came back.

A hunter found his body in the spring,

still propped up against a tree.

I used to wonder if a con man was capable of genuine love

and if that love was enough to cancel out his crimes,

real or imaginary.

Now, I wonder if it's possible that the wish to love

can be stronger than the need to hate.

We buried Ray Weiler on the dark mountain

beneath the land he loved.

In time, he would harden into mineral and ore

and become that thing that he used to seek.